PHOTOS: Army Of Hippos Square Off With 100 Crocs

Mother nature, in all her beauty, can still provide quite the shocking sight on occasion. This was recently proved the case as two armies, one consisting of hippos and the other crocodiles, squared off to battle it out.

It seems the incident may have been sparked as one hippo lay deceased amongst the hoard of over 100 crocodiles. Appearing to have died of natural circumstance, the heard of hippos seemed none too pleased to leave their fallen comrade to be feasted upon by the gnarly scavengers.

As the army’s squared off, the hippos soon came to their senses and began to wander elsewhere to avoid the scathing sun. The events were captured via photograph by Wildlife photographer Marc Mol.

Circling above in his microlight helicopter, the man was able to see the entire sequence of events including the hippos’ intelligent retreat. As reported by Mol, “I was up in a helicopter above the river in the early hours of the morning and my pilot John Coppinger and I saw around 100 crocodiles feasting on a dead hippo.”

He explained that, “The hot weather was relentless but it was likely this hippo died from anthrax which lies dormant for many years but can get stirred up if the dry season is an extended one.”

Noting an odd occurrence he discovered, he mentioned, “What I did find that was most interesting was that the crocodiles appeared to be the only animals that were concerned with the microlight flying overhead. It could well be a throwback to the days when Pterodactyls ruled the skies.”